NBA 2K11 Lead Gameplay Designer, Mike Wang Interview

[carnalnirvana]

Quote: Originally Posted by Court_vision

If he can implement LIVE's control + play sets and play calling...it's game over anyway. There'd be no point buying anything other than 2K11. Long term it seems there won't be any competition...hopefully the 2K guys are driven enough to put out a good game every season even though there's no competition.

like i said before after seeing what ea has done with madden and fifa i wont bet against them. they will regain the sales numbers in 2 yrs, sales does not mean good product for them

by that point i like you will be playing something else because for ea with high sales sim gameplay goes out the door a la fifa

however i think live 11 will be a good game

[CX1329]

I don't understand the FIFA bashing. It's the closest to a soccer/football sim we can get right now, given that the PES series has gone arcade. PES10 isn't as horrendously arcadish as the ping pong fest that was PES 2009, but it was still not up to the standards PES 5 and 6 had set. FIFA, on the other hand, plays a realistic game of soccer/football if you don't look for exploits.

But that's beside the point. Like CV, I might not be buying Live 11 this year, depending on the quality of the demos, especially if Mike Wang does something about the horrid controls found in 2K10. I hate the controls in 2K10, and by hate, I mean it. It doesn't completely ruin the experience for me, but I often find myself unable to have as much fun with the game as some people here because of the downright awful isomotion.

Another thing that NEEDS to be addressed is the speed at which the defense rotates and recovers. It continues to spoil the game just as much as it did in 2K9, and 2K tried to make up for it by giving us stupid jumpshots that are too quick, difficult to learn, and unrealistic. Trying to run a perimeter based offense is like a ballet of stupid in 2K10.

Live 10 got both of these things right, and if Wang could just take that experience and use it to fix the issues for 2K11, then that would make 2K11 the ultimate basketball simulation.

[RayAllen20]

Bring defense, ballhandling, and momentum Beluba!!! Great news though!

[JkA3]

If I were Mike Wang I'd make the same move. It's pretty clear which game holds supreme.

[cinders]

hope to get some of live's playcalling. Only thing that needs updating imo.

[Gotmadskillzson]

We all so pumped for a game that isn't coming out for another 8 months. 2K can only go up from here. EA however is at a cross road. Will they keep the current engine or just scrap it and start all over again.

[Dantecamp21]

I'm not taking sides on this one, although I can't see how 2K11 development won't benefit from adding what is perceived (and rightfully so) as the best b-ball gameplay designer around.

But Bryan Wiedey from Pastapadre.com gave us a interesting point of view about the situation on his site. Basically, he said that the EA Canada structure hasn't prevented the NHL and FIFA series from being both stellar games. Today, these 2 franchises (together with MLB The Show) are the standard by which excellence is measured in every sports game.

He also said that it would be unwise by EA Sports to went the arcade way with its supposed "serious" basketball product once you realize all the buzz that NBA Jam has been generating. We know it's only a Wii game, but many believe the game will eventually be available as a DLC on both Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Network. Remember, the Madden Arcade downloadable game uses the Madden Wii engine.

At the same, he believes Live 11 will be a make or break year for the franchise, as everybody around here (including me).

I think there are some solid facts backing his points and it makes us wonder what truly happened on this whole Mike Wang fiasco.

[Parasight]

If only the 2K team could steal the EA Sports Online Team, so we could finally have the game work online (especially Crews). But I guess that's a pipedream.

Really happy about Mike coming back though. It sounds like NBA Live is heading in a more casual-friendly direction as opposed to the sim experience, in attempts to get better sale figures.